Amigos de Liberdad
A Marxist guerilla group, the Amigos viewed the invasion as their chance to bring communism to their land. Originally starting with simple acts of protest and pamphlets, by the time of the war they had graduated to sabotage and ambushes, not only against the Americans, but also against those with competing ideology. History Amigos de Liberdad had it's origins in the class of 2060, in a small high school in Nuevo Leon. The graduates were all determined to improve their country, mainly from higher education, though a handful were determined to resist the American occupation. They were initially nonviolent however, demonstrating and making pamphlets amongst their neighbors for the first few months. These six would draw the attention of Carlos Valendez, a professional Marxist agitator looking for just such an impressionable, idealistic young bunch. He approached them shortly before they printed their third pamphlet, but was initially rebuffed by the youngsters. His way into the group was through Marquez Soyo, the younger brother of one of the Amigos. He would slowly gain Marquez's trust over the rest of the year, impressing the 17-year old with his exploits. While Benjamín was concerned about the thirty year old man hanging out with his brother, he eventually invited the pair to a meeting of the group in February of 2061. Despite the young man's concerns, Valendez would sit quietly at this meeting, speaking only to ask several questions. Surprised, the Amigos invited him to their next meeting, where he volunteered to help on a pamphlet. The group agreed, and were impressed by the quality of the work, and began to ask for more of his input. Valendez would suggest they participate in an upcoming demonstration in Laredo, and even offered to drive the group. The Amigos would agree, and arrived in May. There they met other activists like them, as well as seeing American repression and brutality first-hand. The demonstration would be shut down by national guard troops using live ammo and robots. The Amigos would manage to escape, but were stunned by what they had seen. While they had grown used to check-points and occasional harassment, seeing troops fire on unarmed demonstrators rattled them, as Valendez knew it would. After they returned home, Valendez would take a more decisive roll in the group, putting together a broadsheet condemning the massacre and resulting crackdown, and would distribute it throughout the region. The younger members kept reliving the scenes of the chaos, telling them to anyone who would listen. They spent the rest of the year publishing condemnations of the occupation and the complicity of the Mexican Government. They would begin a dangerous escalation, when the Soyo brothers slashed two tires of an American jeep as they passed it on their way home. The commander of the town garrison was angry at this petty act of defiance and demanded the culprit turn themselves in. The incident blew over after two weeks however, and the brothers became heroes among the Amigos, who started publishing bolder critiques. In 2062 the American forces in the area started to be attacked by insurgents, and would begin efforts to counter them. One such raid on a supposed insurgent hideout would result in seventeen dying in a neighboring house as a pilot missed the targeted strike. This incident would serve as a catalyst for wide-spread protests through out the area, with the Amigos leading many demonstrations. During one particularly impassioned protest, the locals were confronted by soldiers in riot gear. The soldiers were given orders not to engage, command not wanting another massacre, but their presence would incite the protestors who began throwing stones. This would anger the soldiers, who closed in riot batons, and the resulting melee saw dozens injured. The coming days would see rampant defiance and sabotage in the township, with several jeeps and trucks rendered useless. The American commander responded with a curfew and increased patrols. This series of events was just what Vaalendez was hoping for, and he began publishing even more inflammatory tracts. Occupation forces would get wind of the Amigos' activities, but the locals would warn the youngsters before the raid could be executed. Thinking they would be wanted for arrest, the Amigos would find places to hide out, but the Soyos and Valendez published one last tract calling for armed resistance, and cut the brake-lines of a jeep outside the town cantina. Though they would likely have been forgotten in time, these actions marked the Amigos as insurgents. The group would be scattered in hiding for the rest of that year, getting food from friends and family. In 2063 they would truly begin guerilla activities, as in March, The Soyos and Valendez attacked a patrol of soldiers, using crude I.E.D.s and old pistols. Only one soldier was injured in the exchange, but word of this incident spread through town quickly, and the other Amigos would meet up with their comrades. Having already converted the Soyos, Valendez would take this opportunity to spread his message of Marxism to the remaining youth. Their next attack would be in August, planting a bomb in the road leading to the American garrison, blowing up a transport truck. Only two were killed in the blast, but the Amigos made great propaganda of it, celebrating the deaths in print. In December they struck again cutting telephone lines and destroying radio towers. They would quiet down for 2064, using their new credentials to gather arms and supplies, as well as studying Marxism further. They returned to revolutionary activity in February of 2065, placing landmines along patrol paths, and waiting nearby with hunting rifles. As the occupation forces fell victim to the mines, the Amigos opened fire, stopping only when American reinforcements came. They would publish these actions, and again called for armed uprising, which became a common feature of their publications. In May they would cross over into Tamaulipas, where they would harass several convoys before returning home in September, where they would rest until the next year. Their first act of 2066 would occur in April and shock many residents, when they killed an informant for the occupation. While many could understand the reasoning, the victim was still a neighbor of the youngsters for years and even offered to leave town. Regardless, the Amigos would publicize it, warning others not to cooperate with the Americans. The occupiers would grow tired of these antics, and began to actively target the Amigos, causing the group to go underground. They resurfaced in early 2068 to sabotage oil pumps in the south. For the next four months they modified bill boards, painting over the ads with anti-American propaganda. The Amigos would have a close call in August, being pulled over by military police. A brief shootout would occur, with the communists escaping narrowly, and the Americans raising the alarm in the region. Using back roads and trails, the Amigos would return to Nuevo Leon in October of that year, and head to familiar holes to wait out the winter and make plans. After winter they returned, detonating a bomb at a roadside checkpoint during shift change, killing four. This would be the last act of several Amigos, with one dying in the blast, two growing tired of the violence, and two others captured by the occupation. Down to himself and the Soyos, Valendez invited several of his other comrades, all of whom were steeped in "party doctrine." This new grouping would increase the number of attacks, ambushing a dozens of patrols by the end of the year. in March of 2070 the Amigos joined another Marxist group in Sonora to carry out a bombing against a fuel depot, and harassed American forces until June, when they returned to Nuevo Leon. Here they again sabotaged vehicles and radio towers, capping their year by capturing an American trooper and executing him on holotape. This sparked another intensive search, causing them to go to ground, though they continued publishing pamphlets during that time. The search would die down slightly in mid-2073, allowing them to disrupt oil pipelines north throughout the state, before slipping into Ciudad Victoria on new year's eve. In the city they discovered dozens of other resistance groups of all political stripes, as well as paramilitaries in favor of the occupation. They would also find a more potentially receptive audience, there being more industrial workers in the city. Their first few months were spent between printing and disrupting tracts and scouting out targets throughout the city. In May the Amigos destroyed a stretch of carretera 101 outside of town, slowing down supplies to the garrison. This helped their revolutionary credentials, and several other leftist groups would offer supplies and assistance to the Amigos. The Marxists quickly took advantage of this, receiving radios and maps showing American positions, which they used to attack three other patrols over the rest of the year. In 2075 they began associating with two other Marxist groups, with Valendez hoping to unify them under his reign. He found them staffed by seasoned operators as well, and would make little progress over the months. They would also start to clash with the democratic groups over their conflicting goals for Mexico. This would culminate in August when an argument turned to blows in one of the cantinas. Both groups would then print several pamphlets and broad-sheets against the other, though violence was absent for the moment. That changed in 2076, when Valendez and Benjamín Soyo saw some democratic rivals stopped at a traffic light. Frustrated at his inability to control the Statist-Communist movement in the city, Valendez thought the killing of the democrats would increase his standing. This led him to draw his pistol and open fire, with his comrade following from reflex. The bullets completely missed the car, but struck a child on her way to school. They girl was killed, and word quickly spread that the Amigos were responsible, causing almost every group to turn against them. They would try to explain and pass the blame, but found themselves attacked by every group, and fled back to Nuevo Leon in November of that year. There they hid and plotted their next move well into the next year. on the morning of the Great War, they would be planting landmines on a highway, when bombs fell on the surrounding cities. The tremors detonated the mines, Killing Valendez and the Soyos, and the other members drifted off soon after, before being killed by radiation. Activities & Interests Initially the Amigos were a peaceful protest group, with nominal socialist leanings. It wouldn't be until the addition of Valendez to the group that they began to advocate violence, and their own slide into it. They would continue to publish throughout their existence, with the tone gradually becoming more extreme. They preferred to fight the occupation indirectly, sabotaging vehicles and planting bombs, though they would attack troopers directly. Many members got burned out from these actions, and were replaced by hardened believers loyal to Valendez. Category:Pre-War Group Category:Mexico Category:Defunct